Happy Halloween! This fall, I was able to make it to Disneyland and Disney California Adventure a couple of times during the Halloween Time celebration. Of course, I had to try out some the Halloween eats and treats in the parks.
The first thing on my list to try was the Bat Wing Raspberry Sundae at Clarabelle's on Buena Vista Street. The white chocolate raspberry swirl ice cream is to die for. I didn't pick up on the white chocolate flavor too much, but the raspberry swirl was like having a little bit of raspberry sorbet mixed in with the ice cream. The chocolate bat cookies were delicious. I wish they sold some chocolate cookies like them in the candy shops. The sundae is served in a chocolate dipped waffle bowl, topped with a mound of whipped cream, and spattered with raspberry sauce. I'm going to miss this sundae.
One of the the treats offered in Cars Land was the Spoke-y Cone Macaron. It perfectly matches the theme for the location.
Inside the macaron is marshmallow buttercream and candy corn. It is very sweet, but oh so good. It is big enough to share. I would actually recommend that if you don't have a big sweet tooth.
Just across from the Cozy Cone Motel is Flo's V8 Cafe where I went to try the Car-achnid Pot Pie. It's a chicken pot pie with dried cranberries and a spider crust. This was the only savory Halloween Time food item I tried and I was not disappointed. I wasn't sure how I would like the cranberries in the pie, but I was pleasantly surprised at how well the flavor combination worked. And most of all, I loved the buttery, flaky crust.
The last Halloween-inspired treat I tried was the Spider Silk Ice Cream Sandwich from Clarabelle's Hand Scooped Ice Cream on Buena Vista Street. I've been wanting to try charcoal ice cream since it has become a trendy thing at a lot of ice cream shops. I figured I might as well try this charcoal-tart cherry ice cream sandwiched between a black macaron. It is also topped with raspberry sauce and popping candy. It was really messy, but worth it. I really enjoyed the cherry and raspberry flavors. And for the popping candy, I forgot about them until one popped surprisingly popped in my mouth. They definitely make the dish fun to eat.
I enjoyed all the the eats and treats that I was able to try this year. I'm impressed that they added so many food items to menus all around both parks this year, but disappointed that I didn't get to try out more of them. Now, I'm looking forward to what appears on menus for the holidays.
Happy National S'mores Day! What better way to celebrate than with this sweet treat. Disneyland recently added the s'mores churro to the churro cart in Critter Country as part of the "Fantasmic!"-inspired eats and sweets offered in the park. With my love of s'mores, I had to try it out on my most recent trip to Disneyland.
I knew I found where this churro was when I saw the line in front of the cart.
The s'mores churro is a dollar more than the regular churros, but I would say it's worth the $5.50 since it does have the chocolate and marshmallow dipping sauce.
It's hard to tell from the photo, but the churro is rolled in crushed graham cracker.
Since the graham cracker churro is not as sweet as a regular churro, the chocolate marshmallow dipping sauce is the perfect addition. The warm churro with the gooey sauce is a delicious treat you must try if you are a s'mores fan.
If you will be going to Disneyland soon, check this item out. It hasn't been announced how long it will be available, so get it while you can.
Who hasn't wanted to try the Grey Stuff? Now, you can at Disneyland. Growing up, Beauty and the Beast was a classic Disney princess movie that most of us loved. As an adult (and now a foodie), my favorite part of the movie is the scene where Lumiere sings "Be Our Guest" and shows Belle all the foods that they serve. One of the dishes he offers Belle is the grey stuff. Many people have speculated what the grey stuff really is, but Disney has made their own versions for guests to enjoy in Disneyland and Walt Disney World. And with the release of the new live-action Beauty and the Beast film, Disney has temporarily reimagined the Village Haus Restaurant into the Red Rose Taverne. As soon as I heard about the changes, I was immediately excited to be able to finally try the grey stuff.
So, on a little bit of a rainy day, I headed to Disneyland to try out the Red Rose Taverne. This was actually a few days after the takeover began. I lined up well before the restaurant opened (11 am) to avoid the huge line that formed the days prior.
On the outside, the building is the same but the Village Haus signs are now covered with Red Rose Taverne banners.
Two of the windows at the front of the restaurant were changed to rose stained glass windows.
This big curtain welcomes you as you enter while also hiding some of the Pinocchio decor.
I tried Gaston's Brew which is an apple-mango punch with passion fruit foam. It's so funny how much this looks like beer. It is really fruity and delicious.
And finally, here is the Grey Stuff Gateau. It is a white chocolate mousse flavored with cookies and cream, red velvet cake with a raspberry and raspberry jam in the center sitting on a shortbread cookie, and topped with crispy chocolate pearls.
It actually is pretty delicious. The mousse is like a light whipped frosting with a hint of the cookies and cream flavor. It goes pretty well with the red velvet cake and raspberry. The chocolate pearls give a little bit of a crunchy texture to the dish. The shortbread cookie was like a little bonus that I ate at the end. If I'm able to eat at Red Rose Taverne again before it is changed back, I will have to try one of the savory dishes but also save room for more of the grey stuff. For now, the restaurant will remain indefinitely.
Happy Halloween everyone! I thought I would show you a couple of the delicious Halloween caramel apples available at Disneyland. But first, here are some of the decorations at the entrance to Disneyland.
The pumpkin versions of Mickey and the gang are really cute.
I like Minnie Mouse the best.
The orange banners are very festive as well.
I love the partners statue surrounded by flowers in fall colors and pumpkins with some characters carved in them.
Now for the apples. They are one of my favorite treats to get at Disneyland. I like to take one home since it can be very messy. Of course, I picked the witch Minnie apple.
When it's sliced open, you can see the layers of caramel, chocolate, white chocolate, and purple sprinkles, orange M&M's for her polka dots, marshmallow ears, and white chocolate hat with her bow.
This pumpkin caramel apple is really cute also. This apple is caramel and then white chocolate to make the orange sprinkles pop.
Picture from Mousewait.com
There is even a Dia de Los Muertos caramel apple this year. I'm a sucker for these seasonal goodies.
Check out the video above from the Disney Parks Blog that shared how they decorate the witch Minnie apple on YouTube.
I'll leave you with this shot of It's a Small World that I took during the Mickey's Halloween Party that I attended. It was really awesome to see during such a fun night. What is your favorite Fall/Halloween food or treat?
On a recent visit to Cars Land, my family and I decided to grab some food from the Cozy Cone Motel.
We visited Cozy Cone #3.
Don't mind this picture above that I took during Christmas time. (Cars Land looks amazing at Christmas.) Cozy Cone #3 offers chili cone queso, chicken verde, bacon mac and cheese, and BBQ pulled pork bread cones along with various drinks.
Above is the chili cone queso which has beef chili, cheddar cheese, and Fritos on top. You can get this cone with vegetarian chili if desired.
Pictured above is the chicken verde cone with chicken, salsa verde, and queso fresco.
I forgot to get a close up of mine, but here I am with the BBQ pulled pork cone and the oil can souvenir sipper. The cone is filled with shredded pork mixed with barbecue sauce and topped with coleslaw and a pickle slice.
A while ago, I also tried the bacon macaroni and cheese cone. This cone has mac and cheese mixed with bacon bits throughout and topped with more bacon.
We all really enjoyed our cones. They are very filling and would make a good lunch or dinner on the go. You can easily get these and head over to wait in line for Radiator Springs Racers if there is a long wait (there usually is). Click here to see the menu of all the Cozy Cones. I also did a little tour of the Cozy Cone Motel over on my YouTube channel, so check that out below.
What is your favorite treat at the Cozy Cone Motel or what would you like to try? Let me know in the comments.
On my most recent day at Disneyland, my Mom, brother, and I decided to head to Disneyland early in the morning. Surprisingly, it is rare that we actually eat breakfast in the parks. Most of the time we eat something at home or bring something to snack on until lunch. We decided to try breakfast at River Belle Terrace for the first time.
At River Belle Terrace, you can choose from bacon and eggs, pancakes, biscuits and gravy, "build your own" yogurt parfaits, and more. Get a better look at the menu here.
While waiting in line, we watched the cast members make the Mickey pancakes.
The fruit plates looked really good if you want something light. You can grab the yogurt cup from here and add your choice of toppings at the yogurt bar.
I opted for the Mickey Mouse pancake. It was too cute not to try. I believe this is the only place where you can get this pancake. He has blueberry eyes, a pineapple mouth, and a cherry nose. It's not the best pancake I've ever had, but I still enjoyed it with lots of syrup.
My Mom got the Steamboat which is a stack of 3 pancakes, eggs, and your choice of bacon or sausage. She felt the same way about her food as I did.
My brother got the Cinnamon Roll French Toast which comes with eggs and your choice of bacon or sausage. He thought it was pretty good, but he would rather have breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen (a favorite for all of us). What stands out about the River Belle Terrace is, that you can't beat the location and view of the Rivers of Americas. You are steps away from the Pirates of the Caribbean or Indiana Jones attractions. I would recommend it if you are looking for a quick breakfast in the park.
Just over a week ago, I attended my fourth 24 hour day at Disneyland! It has become a bit of a tradition now, but this time it was a little more special because Disneyland is celebrating its 60th anniversary. The Diamond Celebration brings new decorations along Main St. and Buena Vista St., the new Paint The Night parade, the new Disneyland Forever fireworks, and a new World of Color. People were waiting for this day to see the official debut of the night-time spectaculars.
We lined up around 2am and then went through the turnstiles of Disneyland at about 5am. We joined thousands of people on Main St. to count down the start of the 24 hours.
We inched our way down Main St.
Take a look at my video below to get a feel for what it was like.
It was nice to see the sun rise from Tomorrowland.
I headed to the Little Green Men Store to buy some pins along with hundreds of other people.
This is what breakfast looked like. I had to grab 24 hour day cupcake. I got the chocolate one with buttercream frosting and the white chocolate Dopey decoration. There was also a vanilla one.
Here's a better look at the decoration. It's the same design as the t-shirt and trading pin released for that day.
Around 11am, we thought about heading to the car to drop off bags or park hopping. Knowing how crowded the park was already and seeing all the people still entering, we decided not to so that we wouldn't be stuck outside when the park reached capacity. Sure enough 2 or 3 hours later, we heard that they had closed the gates for a while.
I took some time to admire the shiny, sparkly castle.
I was skeptical of the decor a couple months ago when they started going up, but I really love the finished product. It's amazing in person.
I even like the banners in the back.
For lunch, we made reservations for Big Thunder Ranch BBQ. It was my first time eating there. I was glad that we had this reservation because the lines for everything else were really long. Some were longer than rides.
For lunch, the menu consists of barbecue chicken, barbecue ribs, cole slaw, ranch beans, and corn bread. For dinner, they add smoked sausage and corn on the cobb.
They seat you at picnic tables with shade canopies.
I really enjoyed the atmosphere. It was relaxing compared to hustle and bustle of the rest of the park.
The chicken, ribs, and beans come served in buckets and drinks are served in mason jars. It just adds to the theme and charm of the outdoor restaurant.
Here is my plate with all of the fixings. Make sure you come hungry because this meal is all you care to eat. They will keep the food coming until you can't possibly eat anymore.
There is also entertainment to go along with your meal.
If you do leave room, they offer some delicious desserts. We were too full, but we'll have to come back just for dessert next time.
At 1am we watched the new Paint The Night parade on Main St. (after a failed attempt at the 8:50pm parade). It was incredible! For me, it lived up to expectations. The floats and the music are great. The nod to the old electrical parade is a really nice touch. You can click down below to watch the whole parade for yourself.
After watching the parade, we were starving. We went to Plaza Inn to get the fried chicken and waffles made especially for the 24 hour day.
It's not Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles, but it was delicious nonetheless. Who could resist Mickey waffles? There was a huge line well in to the early morning showing that many people can't.
We took some time to admire and take pictures of the castle at night. My camera doesn't do it justice.
After 5am, the sky started to become light again. We took advantage of the opportunity to take pictures at sunrise.
The beautiful sight was a nice way to end our 24 hours at Disneyland. Did you attend the 24 hour day? What was your favorite part?
